Home console sales jump 113 per cent in UK

Unit sales of hardware have risen by 51 per cent in the UK for the first 26 weeks of the year, as figures show consumers have snapped up 2.22 million consoles so far in 2007.

Nintendo hardware accounts for 53 per cent of units sold in 2007, compared to 34 per cent last year. Sony consoles accounted for 34 per cent, compared to 44 per cent last year, and Microsoft's share has dropped from 22 per cent to 12 per cent.

Home console units sold during the first six months have jumped 113 per cent, with Nintendo's Wii helping the company rise from just 1 per cent of units sold for the same period in 2006 to 40 per cent.

Sony is just behind Nintendo with 39 per cent of units sales, a drop from last year's 46 per cent, while Microsoft has also suffered a drop from 52 per cent to 21 per cent. In total, 1.29 million home consoles have been sold so far this year in the region.

Handheld unit sales only rose 8 per cent in contrast, although Nintendo has once again grown with 72 per cent of units sold (58 per cent in 2006), compared to Sony's 28 per cent (42 per cent in 2006). 930,000 handheld consoles have been sold since the start of the year.

Unit sales of software in the UK have risen by 19 per cent for the first half of 2007, with Sony's ageing PlayStation 2 still able to shift more software than next-generation consoles.

Despite a decline in unit sales of 23 per cent, there were still 6.49 million units of PS2 software sold for the first 26 weeks of the year.

That compares to 4.04 million DS units, 3.14 million Xbox 360 games, 1.57 million Wii titles and 930,000 copies of PlayStation 3 software.

The figures have been revealed by Chart Track and ELSPA as part of its first-half assessment of the market. So far this year, the UK games market has seen revenue grow by 42 per cent year-on-year.

All data is copyright Chart Track / ELSPA.